


Marked

by rannas



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Violence, coming up with an explanation for isa's scar and lea's face markings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:48:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25154965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rannas/pseuds/rannas
Summary: “Lea…” His voice gave out, unable to say some sort of goodbye, to tell Lea all he wished he could. If this was the end for them, he wanted to at least thank Lea for all he had done.
Relationships: Axel/Saïx (Kingdom Hearts), Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts)
Kudos: 15





	Marked

Two teens leaned against the railing of the castle, both in outfits that were slightly too large, hanging off of their not quite fully-grown frames. The boy known as Lea with his wild expressions and equally as wild red hair telling some exaggerated tale as the boy named Isa listened quietly with plenty of eye rolls in response but a fond smile barely discernable all the same.

They went to this spot often, to gossip about the other apprentices, to flaunt their success in finally making it in the castle, and most importantly, plan. They had a girl to save and nothing they did seem to lead them to any answers. It was dead end after dead end. But they hadn’t given up, every day they talked over what they knew and what they were going to do next. Their daily meeting however was abruptly interrupted by a strange noise echoing from within the confines of the fortress behind them. Both fell silent, looking back attempting to discern just what that noise was.

“Scared?” Isa tilted his head.

Lea smirked devilishly. “Me? Never.” Isa scoffed but both turned and made their way inside through the empty halls of the castle. The others had been in the lab and it wasn’t abnormal for these corridors to be empty especially after the disappearance of Ansem the Wise… but still something seemed different. Isa felt something pool in his gut, a sense of apprehension, a dread he had never felt before. Was he paranoid or had something about the castle shifted? The air seemed heavier, the walls darker, and the light a sickly yellow. 

“Lea wait…” He reached out to grab his friends’ arm and pull him back but it was too late. Isa’s hand wrapped loosely around Lea’s arm as a horrible scene unraveled before them. Braig was falling to the floor like a rag doll, the other apprentices splayed out on the ground. There was no blood, but Isa’s stomach turned again there was something deeply wrong about this. A smell of something that wasn’t blood but was still acrid and overwhelming. 

“I had almost forgotten about you two.” The apprentice once known as Xehanort who had been going by Ansem now loomed above them, a giant silver key glistening in his hand. His face was expressionless, staring at them like a bored predator.

_Key… blade…?_

The word echoed in Isa’s mind. One of the few things that girl could remember, on their last meeting that word was the one she whispered as they parted. Someone about a keyblade war, a phrase neither boy could wrap their heads around when she had said it. But there was no time to think of that now, the other apprentice was raising the blade and pointing it right at his friends. Without a second thought, he pushed himself in front of Lea right as the blade was about to meet its mark, only to be met with felt blinding pain. His body thrown backwards with force, landing on top of Lea and pushing him to the ground. The world around him fading to black as warmth pooled across his face. The last thing he heard was Lea’s shaky voice, “No…Isa”. It was hard to tell through the pain, but he was pretty sure he could feel warm tears falling onto his own face.

“Lea…” His voice gave out, unable to say some sort of goodbye, to tell Lea all he wished he could. If this was the end for them, he wanted to at least thank Lea for all he had given him. Or at least say something to stop him from crying. He tried to reach up, to wipe the tears or just touch his face to see if this was real or some sort of nightmare. But his arms were too heavy, and Isa felt himself tearing away from the moment and fall into darkness. 

  
**\----**

“So you have awoken.” A hooded figure stood above him, cloaked in black, his voice deep and unfamiliar.

Isa couldn’t find his voice. Crumpled on the ground, pain searing across his face, all he could do was look up at the ominous figure and then over to his unconscious friend. Once again, he found his arm unable to move… to reach out.

“So strong, to lose your heart and still wake up before the others. You will be of use to me.” The cold metal of the key turned his chin pulling his gaze away from Lea’s crumpled body and towards the cloaked man. “How foolish, this cut was never meant to happen. But still you were unable to save your friend. A worthless sacrifice.” Isa wanted to reach out push away the cold metal, but like his voice, his limbs were not responding.

“Soon all of you in this room will awaken and find in the void that used to hold a heart, new and more fascinating powers will manifest. But for now- I think you need a reminder of your importance to me.” The key shifted, the cold metal dragging across his face. Mouth opened as if to scream in pain, but nothing came out.

“Remember. You are mine… recusant.” Darkness came again, but instead of falling, he felt the tendrils of it pulling him in slowly.

**\----**

The first thing he saw when the darkness faded again was red.

“What happened?” Lea choked out as he sat up, clutching his chest as Isa’s eyes fluttered open. “Where are we?”

“They took our hearts.” The others were gone. Memories of a conversation with a black cloaked man slipping through the cracks of his memories, unsure if it had even really happened. But it made sense, explained the emptiness he could feel in his chest. And as much as he wanted this to be a dream, the blinding pain across his face meant that the attack had been real. There was no mirror in this strange white room, but Isa also wasn’t sure he was quite ready to see either.

“They what?” Lea’s eyebrows furrowed before looking over at him, lingering on his face. “What did they do to you? Isa….” Lea’s eyes welled up yet again.

New and fascinating powers… An echo of a conversation that was quickly fading. He had heard stories of heroes with magical powers. Isa had never been the best at emotional comfort and Lea was so quick to cry. When they were younger, he used to draw upside down tears under his eyes in marker to stop him from crying. Usually it ended in both of them laughing. He doubted that would be the case now, but he inhaled deeply and focused. Willing his fingers to somehow follow his will, Isa softly touched Lea’s face, closed his eyes and pictured the marks. As stupid as he felt, he could feel a warmth spreading from his fingers. Opening his eyes, his mouth dropped as he saw it had actually worked. So, they did have magical powers now…. But how were they supposed to be like the heroes of old without hearts?

“What did you do?” Lea’s striking green eyes were wide, but the tears had stopped flowing. A quick swipe of his thumb across Lea’s tear-soaked face proving the marks were far more permanent then the marker ones had been.

“Remember, the upside-down tears- to keep you from crying?” Isa tried to smile but the pain in the center of his face made it too hard. “We’ll get our hearts back. And we will find her.” Lea inhaled hard in response before throwing himself over and wrapping his arms tight around Isa, his warmth a stark contrast to the cold and somber room they were in.

“We’ve really gotten ourselves in quite a mess now huh?” Lea’s signature crooked smile seemed more hollowed than usual. Isa merely sighed in response He wanted to cry himself, but the tears never came. He just tried to memorize what it felt like wrapped up in Lea’s arms. He was even more determined to find a way to make this right and wondering just how this would feel if he still had his heart.

“I see you have awoken” The boys pulled apart, staring up at the cloaked figure with an unfamiliar deep voice. “Come with me.” They followed the figure wordlessly through a labyrinth of white walls, a castle unlike the one they had grown up with. They walked close, arms and hands brushing against each other.

They finally came to a stop before being ushered into a new room, a large circular hall with throne like chairs filled with other cloaked figures looming above them. “It is time you are assigned your new names.” The figure vanished in a cloud of darkness before reappearing on the highest chair. 

“Why do we need new names?” Lea’s hands were on his hips, eyes narrowed as he swept his gaze around the room of robed figures. 

“Silence child.” A familiar voice rang out, Even. Isa had heard that voice enough, so this was where the other apprentices ended up. He looked around, six figures, it checked out. But it did not answer what the other 7 chairs were for, and despite his curiosity, he found himself afraid to ask.

“You shall be known henceforth as Saïx, Number 7 in our Organization” The deep voice man pointed at him before turning to Lea. “And you shall be known as Axel, Number 8.” Lea scowled but surprisingly said nothing. “And I am Xemnas, your superior and Leader of this Organization. Together we will build Kingdom Hearts and restore what has been lost to us.” Lea and Isa shared a glance, wordlessly confirmed how much they had to talk about when they finally had privacy once more.

As they left, they were handed some folded black item, clearly the same black robes the six in front of them were wearing. They both were led by the others to their personal chambers, as the one who was now known as Vexen explained this new world to them. The world in between. There was even a smaller figure among them… even the youngest Ienzo must be a part of all this. He looked over at Lea as they walked and above his new marks, he saw a hardness in his green eyes he had never seen before. Perhaps without hearts they truly were different people deserving of different names. 

**\----**

_Axel huh_ …. He rolled the new name around his head as he changed into the robes back in his room tossing his old clothes aside. The white walls and dark sky outside annoyed him, or not. No heart for anything like that. He caught his reflection and examined the new marks under his eyes. Some kind of magical tattoos that Isa had given him. He decided he rather liked them, he looked tougher and older with them.

The door of his newly assigned room opened without warning, and he could not help but be taken aback by the boy who entered. It was the familiar figure of his best friend, but with subtle changes that just did not sit right. The puckered and red swollen X across his face was bad enough, but the strange pointed ears and even worse … the unnerving gold eyes in place of the cool teal ones he had grown used to. Like some sort of demented version of his best friend.

“Are you alright?” And despite how different he looked, he could still see that same boy in his serious yet concerned expression. He was the same boy Lea could always read, even when no one else could.

“Of course. So, what’s the plan Isa?” Lea shook his head, trying his best to ignore the unsettled feeling he got looking at his friend. He refused to call him by that new name, as strange as he may look now, if he was still Lea, then he was Isa… right?

**\----**

**10 Years Later**

It had been a few days since Isa’s reawaking, during which time Lea had hardly left his side. A fact Isa hardly minded. The days had been a haze of tests from the lab and getting acclimated to being a person again. A real person, with a heart. No longer a pawn in someone else’s game like he had been for such a long time. He had both started and ended that time as a recusant, fighting the fate he thought he had been resigned to. When he had told Lea he would see him later, he figured it would be in some other life far in the future. Who was he to expect a second chance at life? A second chance to be with the one person who understood him. Back then he’d taken it for granted, taken Lea’s insistent and sometimes annoying presence in his life as a given. But after learning what not having him in his life, the feeling of losing him, he was not willing to let go ever again.

They had returned to their familiar haunt, leaning against the castle balcony. Lea’s warm and dexterous fingers slowly traced the outline of the x-shaped scar on his face. The touch sent flashes of memories of that fateful day. The day they had turned from Isa to Saïx and Lea to Axel.

“Don’t ya wanna get rid of this thing?” Lea asked, finally breaking the silent reverie that had Isa and Lea both reminiscing on that one day.

“No..” He smiled softly and shook his head lightly.

“Why not?” Lea’s brows furrowed.

“It’s a reminder.” Lea being free from the tattoo’s made sense, he deserved to be free from pain and tears. But his scar was different. It was a reminder of the sacrifice he tried to make to save his friend. A reminder of the force he had to fight back against at the end. While he never wanted to be Saïx again- he did not want to forget the things he had done. There were too many mistakes he could not afford to forget or make again.

He could tell Lea was examining him close, searching his own expression for the many things Isa tend to leave unsaid. The little things only Lea could pick up on. “Of?”

“Everything. All my mistakes, everything we’ve been through.” Isa looked back at Lea noticing how his friends’ green eyes were starting to look rather watery. Isa smirked, the weight of the past outweighed by the simple happiness of this moment. “Seems to be working far better than those marks I gave you ever did. Never really could stop you from crying.” 

“Shut up. I’m not crying.” Lea’s tone was playful as his hand moved from his face to gently running through the strands of his hair, muttering “Why am I friends with you again?”

“I ask myself that all time.” Foreheads touched and both men smiled. Despite everything that happened, Isa felt closer to him than ever before. There was still so much to say, apologies to be made, prices to paid, old friends to find, but they were together, and they had time. And right now, that was enough.

Faces still close, without a word their lips touched, turning into slow and searching kiss, the fragrant breeze of Radiant Garden surrounding them as the sun set. In that moment he felt complete, more like Isa then he ever had been, as they leaned once more against the railing of that same fateful spot where everything had begun.

**Author's Note:**

> https://twitter.com/akusai_zine <\-- to check out the zine this piece was published it with lots of really great art and writing I definitely recommend checking out!


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